How To Prepare For The College Semester As An Incoming Freshman

If you’re like many incoming freshmen, you have probably already packed your bags and are ready for the big move. However, you might have overlooked several other important things that will help you to prepare for college. So, here are a handful of tasks that all of you college freshmen (and returning students) should do to prepare for your upcoming college semester.

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How To Prepare For The College Semester

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Read Your Syllabus

Since you are a new student, you might not realize the importance of reading your syllabus in college. However, understanding your syllabus, and knowing how to use it, can make the difference between you doing well in the class or not. So, essentially, a syllabus is an extra tool that you can use to help you be successful and adequately prepare you for your college classes.

Here’s a quick rundown for any of you guys who are wondering, “What is a syllabus?”

A syllabus contains everything that you would need to know for a college course. They usually are made up of a number of things:

• Your professor’s contact information, office hours, and where they will be located after class
• Rules for the class and what you can expect to learn in the course
• What material and textbooks you need for class
• The due dates for projects and assignments
• What grading percentages are used for assignments/class activities (Ex: attendance = 10%, homework =15%, assignments/quizzes = 20%, projects = 25%, and tests = 30%)

A physical copy of your syllabus is usually handed out on the first day of class and your professor will read through everything with the class.

Put Due Dates Into Organizational Tools

Once you become a college student, you will quickly learn the importance of being organized because, without organization, everything can get a little chaotic. So, a good rule of thumb is to use organizational tools such as calendars and planners.

Something else that I would recommend is to put important dates and deadlines into your calendars and planners. This will help you to keep up with all your assignments from different classes and make sure that you aren’t blindsighted by anything.

Get School Supplies And Textbooks

I know that I mentioned school supplies earlier, but I think that it is worth mentioning again. Before school starts, it’s important that you have all of the school supplies and course material that you need in order to help to prepare you for the college semester.

A great time to get cheap school supplies is at back-to-school sales (or you can visit discount stores such as Dollar Tree). You can also save money by using websites like Amazon and Chegg (I highly suggest that you rent your textbooks). However, you can always wait until the first day of class to see if your professor has made any changes to any course material (knowing this can help you to determine whether it’s worth your time or money to get any of the textbooks).

Figure Out What Your College Dorm Needs

Preparing for college classes doesn’t just start in the classroom, it also starts in your home and dorm room. Some questions that might be helpful for you to answer are:

• Do I have a comfortable area to study?
• Is this room/apartment nice to live and study in?
• Is there anything in that I need to make this place more hospitable?

Asking these questions (and finding a solution) can help you to get comfortable in your new environment and concentrate better. For instance, let’s say that after you have moved into your college dorm, you noticed that you don’t have an area to work on your assignments. So, you found a small table that could double as a desk and kitchen table. Now, you should have a place to comfortably do your work.

These questions can also help you to figure out if you are missing any other dorm room essentials. Some examples of what you might be missing are snacks, cleaning products, or toiletries (if you want to know a little more about what you should pack for college, you should go here).

Go Through A Walkthrough of Classes

Going through a walkthrough of your classes can also help prepare for the first week of school. This can help you to locate your classes and realistically gauge how long it will take you to get to each class. So, no. You won’t have enough time to stop by the cafe before your economics class. Another benefit of going through a walkthrough before school starts is that it can help you to plan your route and save time getting to class. So, you will be fully prepared when the college semester begins.

Here are some additional tips to help you once the semester starts:

• Have a copy of your schedule on your phone.
• Put your classroom schedule and location in acalendar app.
• Take a picture of your schedule and make it your wallpaper.

Explore Campus

You’ve probably already have been on a tour around your college campus. But now, since you are a little more familiar with the place, you can start to explore your campus for new areas to hang out. You might find a nice park nearby or a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant! Your search might also help you find important places that you might need to use in the future such as the career center, counseling office, or the student health center.

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